Tenants for the former Kalamazoo Gazette Building may be announced in January

The view from the northeast corner of the former Kalamazoo Gazette Building is shown in this image from last January. It was taken from high atop the presses before the building was sold and the presses were dismantled and relocated. The space is being redeveloped for other uses.Al Jones | MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Tenants of the former Kalamazoo Gazette Building may be announced early in 2013, a commercial developer says.

“We’re hoping to announce something early next year -- the user groups and all of the groups involved in that,” Phoenix Properties Principal Gregory A. Taylor said.

Things are going well with the redevelopment of that 130,000-square-foot facility that housed the daily newspaper since 1925. In February, the news and sales staffs were relocated from the 401 S. Burdick St. location and are now about one block north. They continue as part of the Mlive Media Group.

Phoenix plans to redevelop the two-story structure for office and retail uses, and possibly for use as light manufacturing (on the ground level) and residential uses (on the second level). Parking is to be developed on the basement level.

New tenants should be named in coming months for the former Kalamazoo Gazette Building at 401 S. Burdick St.Al Jones | MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette

“The only thing that has changed is the commercial demand has been high enough that we have tentatively decided not to do the residential piece,” Taylor said. “So any residential we do there is going to be limited to a few units.”

He said any residential units would be built in the highest portion of the areas that house the newspaper presses.

Taylor said there are still plans to house a restaurant on the ground level of the building.

“There is going to be a restaurant there ,” he said. “We have an agreement for the first floor.”

He said Phoenix has an agreement with a restaurant that will be new to this community, but he would not name it.

Phoenix Properties is the Kalamazoo-based commercial real estate development and management company that is also working to build an eight-story, multi-use office and apartment building at the corner of Rose Street and West Michigan Avenue. Called The Exchange, development of that project continues, Taylor said Tuesday.